Puerto Rico Floods Displace Dozens

Published 7:00 pm, Saturday, December 22, 2001

Flooding from Puerto Rico's heaviest December rainfall in four decades forced dozens of people to evacuate, officials said Sunday.

About 70 people in low-lying areas of San Juan were displaced by the flooding, said Yolanda Zayas, director of the Department of the Family.

In the some interior and western towns, 28,500 people were without drinking water because the rainfall muddied reservoirs, the State Agency for Emergency Management said.

In the interior eastern town of Naguabo, authorities searched for 19-year-old Oscar Diaz, who was swept away Friday while swimming in a swollen river, the State Agency for Emergency Management said. Searchers were hampered by the heavy rain.

Since Dec. 1, San Juan has had 11.37 inches of rain, breaking the record for the month set in 1962, the National Weather Service said. The normal rainfall for the first three weeks of December is 3.7 inches.

The forecast called for up to 3 inches more rain before drier weather arrives by Tuesday.